Alabama

Arkansas State men's head coach John Brady will lead his team in its first Sun Belt Conference tournament game of the week on Friday. The tournament is being played at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

The women's bracket features a traditional, eight-team, 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 first round of play. The winners advance until the championship is decided. The men's tournament will employ a weighted bracket that advances the higher-seeded teams deeper into the tournament.

On Thursday, No. 5 plays No. 8 and No. 6 plays No. 7. The 5-8 winner then plays the No. 4 seed on Friday while the 6-7 winner plays the No. 3 seed. Those winners advance to play the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the semifinals. This requires the top two seeds to play just two games in the tournament and eliminates the possibility of one of those teams being eliminated before the semifinals.